3 AM Memories
by Son Of A Banana
Summary: California was always rampant with unnecessary traffic. And in her case, traffic and paparazzi. Combined, those two did not make a good drive home. The mere thought of this was tiring Bella more and more by the second; God, she just wanted to sleep.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Shake It Up and I felt like doing the thing so I did the thing and now the thing I've done is here for you to read. **

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><p>"Over here! Look over here for a second, Bella! Hey, Bella! Bella, look at me! How are you tonight? Bella!"<p>

"Back up, back it up, give her some space! Just give her some space, back away!"

Hairy, muscular arms drooped over the glittered-cloth of Bella Thorne's dress as she ducked and covered for her natural redheaded life. It was times like these where she deeply regretted ever saying that she wanted to be surrounded by the constant taunting and disturbance that was the paparazzi. Everywhere she went, they were sure to be far or a foot away, camera lights all in her eyes. How hadn't she gone blind by then, she didn't know.

Bella huddled into the back of the limo that had been waiting patiently for her, and flopped onto the leather seat.

"Oh my God," she heavily exhaled, closing her eyes and leaning her head back.

"Long night, Miss Thorne?" She heard her limo driver ask, Mr. Bellerose, an elderly man with fuzzy gray hair covering his head and upper lip, whilst pulling away from the curb of the red carpet event.

"The longest." She was even too tired to describe how elegant the event was, seeing all her good friends along with people she'd thought she'd never ever even had a chance at meeting. She was only nineteen but Tom Cruise still had managed to make her feel like a preteen girl again. She watched the reflection of the camera flashes bounce off the windows of the limo; how had she even survived tonight? It was absolute chaos, she was pretty sure she'd lost her phone, right until it buzzed in her purse.

Pulling out the golden-colored cellphone, she unlocked it and the blaring light hurt her eyes; she squinted and let out a relieved sigh.

_Hey, I stepped out for a couple of drinks with some drinks, I'll be back later tonight, Nicole xxx_

A bit of silence now that her friend (and supervisor) was out. She could already feel her muscles easing away the tension with every breath that sleep tempted her to take. The last thing she needed right now is her giant family crowding her mental and physical space. Not that Nicole was annoying, but she had energy in night time, whereas Bella only acquired it in the day. Because of this, Bella barely got sleep when Nicole was assigned to be her manager. The ride was uneventful as Bella leaned her head back again with her eyes closed, and and listened to low hum of the car.

Speed bump. Speed bump. Pause. Speed bump.

She could have went home, but it was a four hour drive and she didn't feel like sitting in another vehicle for longer than 10 minutes anymore that day. So, she simply concluded that a hotel was more convenient. California was always rampant with unnecessary traffic. And in her case, traffic and paparazzi. Combined, those two did not make a good drive home. The mere thought of this was tiring Bella more and more by the second; God, she just wanted to sleep.

Speed bump. Speed bump. Pause.

"Miss Thorne, we're here, darling," Mr. Bellerose whispered as he gently tapped the redhead's shoulder. Bella's eyes fluttered open; she hadn't realized she'd even fallen asleep. Her body wanted to do nothing but collapse in the warm heaven that she called her bed, even though the thought of a shower crossed her mind. The thought was quickly gone as she smiled and hugged the elderly man, and grabbed her phone and purse and dragged herself out of the limo and into her temporary abode.

She stripped off her tight red dress, her hand tossing it into a corner of the room she didn't even look at and wiped off the makeup on her face, slipping into a large gray T-shirt and sky blue pajama shorts. Her color scheme didn't match whatsoever, but she was too tired to address the problem.

Taking one step, then another, she collapsed onto her bed. All the weight of the world disappeared, and she could finally-

Knock, knock.

The loudest scoff known to man erupted from Bella's mouth. It felt like dumbbells had been superglued to her eyelids as she opened her eyes to glance at the time.

1:53 AM.

So tempted was Bella to simply ignore the knocking at the hotel door, but the back of her mind noted that it could be her most-likely drunk supervisor, Nicole, returning home from her night out. The last thing Bella wanted is to be accused of negligence in a legal court because her tag-along pal drowned in her own vomit and she was too tired to acknowledge the knocking at the door.

She groaned and pushed herself off the bed, each step towards the door weighing more and more on her body. Pat, pat, pat was the sound her bare feet made against the cool wooden floors. Gravity felt like it was at its heaviest as she reached out, turning the knob. Her eyebrows climbed upwards as she took in the person before her.

"... Zendaya?"

Zendaya's hair was in a loose but fashionable bun, and she was clad in a black Kenzo Paris sweatshirt, dark gray skinny sweatpants, and her signature all-pink Nike shoes. Even at this time of night when bags were heavy under people's eyes and the only knock that would be heard was footsteps returning from the bathroom, she still looked amazing; Bella couldn't deny this. She may have been so tired that it was affecting the way she saw things, but she couldn't deny that Zendaya looked flawless.

Zendaya wriggled her fingers in greeting and cheekily beamed. "Hey, Bella."

All emotion plummeted from Bella's face. "Dude. It is literally almost three in the morning, are you _insane_?"

Smiling while she shrugged, and Zendaya quipped,"Yeah, for you."

"How did you even? ... Like, how?"

"I was shooting for Seventeen Mag across town, and I thought I'd come and surprise you since I haven't seen you in forever. Plus, your mom kind of gave me a hand about the hotel you were at, so." Zendaya explained, and gave the cheekiest smile.

Bella made an irked face and softly groaned,"You can't keep showing up like this, Daya... Some random paparazzi guy, or _multiple_ paparazzi guys are gonna follow you right back to my house one day and-"

"Bella. You don't have to worry, okay? I'm really careful about this, and if anyone follows me, I'll just throw a celebrity tantrum until they delete whatever photos they took."

"But sometimes they _don't_ delete the photos and careers are ruined. I mean, have you seen Justin Bieber?" Bella shut the hotel door with weary eyes as she saw the tall, slender girl walk inside. Without hesitance, Zendaya followed the tired redhead back to the bedroom and watched Bella flop face-first onto the bed.

"Bella, it's okay, I promise. No one followed me, it's almost 2 in the morning anyways. If anything, everyone is asleep."

"Well I was_ about _to go to sleep until you showed up." Bella rolled over and crossed her arms and huffed, her nose pointed upwards in a mock-annoyed manner.

Crossing her arms and grinning, Zendaya taunted,"As if you don't want me here with you."

The redhead rolled over and sighed,"You annoy me." Despite her self-described annoyance, she opened her arms and motioned with her hands to Zendaya. "Come here."

The grin on Zendaya's face grew bigger as she kicked off her bright pink shoes and crawled onto the fluffy blankets until she slid into Bella's arms, releasing a relaxed breath of content. And there they lay; listening to the random noises that occasionally made way through the room, or listening to the rhythm of eachother's breaths. Zendaya was sure she was to fall asleep right there with Bella, entangled and unaware of any other matter in the world other than the redhead she was pressed against, until Bella murmured a soft question. "When are we going to tell everyone?"

The minutes passed and passed, Bella's arm still secured around the abdomen of the taller girl, her fingers absentmindedly playing with the material of Zendaya's sweater. Her fingertips played with the hem of Zendaya's sweatshirt, sometimes daringly ducking under the hem to feel the warm skin that lay beneath it. All these occurrences as Zendaya attempted to think of reasonable way to voice her current situation, as if she hadn't done so a million times already.

The confessions and outcomes both played in Zendaya's head, until she voiced,"... Honestly, I don't know. But when it happens, I'll be right there with you, regardless of the situation. Like, even if ... _this_, has happened, you're still my best friend. I love you, Bella, and I'll be there with you no matter what we go through. I'll be here, always."

Bella snuggled closer and whispered,"Good. Because I'm terrified of what might happen."

Zendaya whispered back,"I'll be right here with you. Or we can stay in this hotel room forever and eat room service forever."

Bella giggled with tire,"That'd be nice. Maybe I'll gain some weight and then maybe get boobs."

Bella found it so funny that as they were pressed together in a warm bunch of limbs, creating a sentimental memory in her head, all she heard Zendaya say was,"You already have nice boobs, Bella."

Rarely did these moments get to happen anymore; Bella was lined up with movies from photoshoot to the release of her book, _Autumn Falls_, not to mention she had released an EP and had promotional work to do. Zendaya rose high in the celebrity world, as a model, as an actor, and was always being called to the most prestigious of studios and photographers. Their times clashed like the ocean and the storm clouds that covered it; when they did, though, get to see one another, they made sure the world couldn't interrupt. Secrets were passed and whispers were giggled; hands were held and lips were touched, all done to preserve the scare yet never ending moment.

"Oh my God, your hand is so cold, stop touching me," Zendaya murmured. She lightly pushed away Bella's hand only for it to find its way back underneath the sweatshirt and onto her abdomen. Zendaya groaned.

"But Daya, it's so warm on your stomach," Bella yawned.

Zendaya pulled the covers onto her and Bella and breathed with the smallest smile on her face,"Just go to sleep, Bella."

The last thing Zendaya felt was a pair of the softest lips on her cheek. Then, sleep.

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><p><strong>Heeeey :D So, recently, I've gotten WAY back into Shake It Up, more specifically, Bella Thorne (and Zendaya too, but mostly Bella) and my babies have grown up so much. They're both so charming and beautiful, and it kind of warms my heart to know I basically grew up with them, and are still growing up with them. I know they don't see eachother as much (except for at the Teen Choice Awards, Bella literally broke my heart when she said,"MY BABY GIRL, ZENDAYA!") (And Zendaya did recently accompany Bella to the red carpet event for Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, looking EXTRA FINE) but it's good to know they still talk, it's good to know that I can rekindle lost interests, especially one that meant so much to me.<strong>

**That was so long. But yeah, you should leave review. For Zella. Zendella? I've always preferred Zendella. ****Review for awesome Zendella-ness.**


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